New Jersey Rules Require Cesspool Abandonment and Set New Onsite Standards

The Department of Environmental Protection adopted rules requiring the abandonment of cesspools when any correction is needed or when the property is sold. Additional new requirements include NSF/ANSI Standard 46 effluent filters in septic tanks, risers to grade, watertightness testing of tanks after installation, and a protocol for inspecting systems during transfers of property. The rule also provides for drip dispersal and reduced-size dispersal fields when NSF/ANSI Standard 40 and 245 devices are used.

The department also adopted a rule allowing officials to waive environmental legislation that produces unreasonable, unfair, or unintended results that undermined the goal of the regulations. An example cited was a Hunterdon County store owner who wanted to improve his outdated onsite system, but the permitting process was so onerous that he never submitted the application. Requests for waivers begin Aug. 1.

 

Alabama

Counties would be barred from instituting sewer fees on properties not connected to their sewage systems under a proposed bill. A similar measure passed the House of Representatives last year but did not get through the Senate. Republican Rep. Dickie Drake has re-introduced the measure in the House, saying it’s not fair to charge people for something they don’t use.

 

Minnesota

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency ruled that licensed pumpers may store up to 50,000 gallons of septage in registered underground tanks without a state disposal system permit when fields are inaccessible for land application. The agency is drafting a general permit for businesses that need to store more than 50,000 gallons. The agency will limit permitting to larger storage and treatment facilities. The Program Management Decision on Septage Storage is at www.mowa-mn.com.

 

Georgia

A septage disposal bill (SB 467) in the Senate allows pumpers to dewater septage, return the recovered liquid to onsite systems, and dispose of the solids in landfills.

An amendment to the waste management bill (SB 110) in the Senate would postpone implementation of the Department of Natural Resources land application rules from July 2012 to 2014. According to state representatives, the rules are so extensive and expensive that no one would be able to comply.

The proposed Septic Tank Owners Protection Act would prevent municipalities and counties from forcing single-family property owners or farms with functioning onsite systems to connect to sewers.

 

Michigan

Rep. Ken Goike of Michigan has succeeded in passing House Bill 4578, which makes it mandatory for communities to provide a septage processing facility if they ban land application of septage. Goike is owner of Goike Trucking and Excavating and past president of the Michigan Septic Tank Association. The bill was signed into law by Gov. Rick Snyder on March 6.

 

Florida

Lawmakers repealed a 2010 law mandating septic tank inspections every five years. It requires counties and municipalities with large springs (first-magnitude springs) to have a local evaluation program, but local governments can opt out of the state regulation. Gov. Rick Scott was expected to sign the bill.

 

New Mexico

Bernalillo County commissioners postponed a decision until September on a program requiring the inspection, repair, or replacement of the oldest onsite systems in the county. The proposal would have required systems at least 30 years old and on lots 0.75 acre or smaller to be inspected. About 450 systems would have been subject to inspection immediately, and about 750 systems would have been affected by 2020.

 

Wyoming

The House of Representatives passed legislation (SF85) allowing the Department of Environmental Quality to sidestep a court ruling and continue issuing blanket general permits for septic tanks and wastewater discharges. The permits cover an entire area of a project rather than requiring permits for individual systems. Last year’s court decision said general permits had to go through the rulemaking process, which requires approval by the state Environmental Quality Council, the secretary of state, and the governor. The legislation would amend the law so that general permits are not considered rules.

 

Ohio

The Stark County Health Department instituted regulations requiring more than 4,000 homeowners to hire a company registered with the agency to inspect and service onsite systems. Owners can do the work themselves provided they notify the department. Of the 583 systems the county inspected last year as part of its property transfer program, 101, or 17 percent, failed the inspection.

 

Rhode Island

The state Department of Environmental Management revised regulations for onsite systems in salt pond areas, allowing most homeowners to increase the footprint of their homes by 600 square feet without installing previously mandated denitrification systems. The regulation, scheduled to expire in November 2014, also invites vendors with denitrification systems approved in other states to test their technologies in Rhode Island without first being re-evaluated.

 

Indiana

Owners of about 30 homes destroyed by a tornado in early March in Clark County may need new septic systems to get permits to repair or rebuild. County officials say more effective septic systems are needed because the soils don’t support the systems that were in use. Most homes will probably need mound systems, but some of the lots may be too small for mounds. County officials will explore ways to help the homeowners.



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